'We know times have been weird lately'

This one goes out to all the parents with kids who are driving them up the wall. From now until April 1, 2020, The Behemoth is letting Steam users download and play Castle Crashers, BattleBlock Theater, and Pit People for free on PC. "If you need a family activity or want to? hang with friends onl??ine, we got you."

The studio isn't "fully" giving these games out – they?'re free to play for a limited time – but the gesture is very much appreciated while we're home-bound, and you can also buy all three on sale if needed.

They each scratch a specific itch. Castle Crashers has cathartic sword-swinging and steady stat progression to keep you going, BattleBlock Theater is all about silly platformer mayhem, and Pit People is a ridiculous t?actical romp. You probably own at least one of ??them, but maybe not the trio.

Straight up, I think Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater ?are some of the best co-op games around. I hope The Behemoth can continue crafting these fun-for-all-ages experiences f??or decades to come.

The post Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater are free to play ??for a week on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

I can see myself sinking a lot of time into it

The Behemoth is taking another crack at Alien Hominid with everything it's learned from Castle Crashers, BattleBlock Theater, and Pit People, and the result is Alien Hominid Invasion &?ndash; an up-to-four-player run-and-gun arcade shooter with character customization, XP-based leveling, loot drops, and longer legs.

The new game – and it is a new game, not a remake – was announced in January. Today, just in time for PAX East, The Behemoth shared its first gameplay footage and screenshots for Alien Hominid Invasion.

Before I drone on, it's worth stressing that co-op is local and online. (I hate when that info is buried.)

In a lot of ways, the footage is what I expected. It's unmistakably Alien Hominid, but with a new non-linear format th??at fits into the current climate. I'm all about games with "life steal" weapon attributes. Other possible incremental stats include shots-per-second, piercing, movement speed, and defense.

If you're puzzled by that town-map screen in the trailer, the central hook of Alien Hominid Invasion is beaming down to Earth to "in??vade randomly-assembled neighborhoods built from hundreds of hand-crafted city blocks," so it's more free-flowing. You'll also "abduct intel from your enemies to sabotage their plans, observe the oddit?ies of human life, blow up bosses, and mutate into a variety of powerful Alien forms in order to take down the not-so-secret Agents that are dead set on ruining your day."

You won't need to worry about one-hit kills like before, but they might be a factor in certain scenarios. On th?at note, Th?e Behemoth is planning to have Friendly, Normal, and Insane difficulty settings.

The release timing is up in the air, so don't necessarily count on a 2020 launch. Alien Hominid Invasion will be done when it's done, and it's coming to Steam, Nintendo Switch, a??nd Xbox One.

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'Vastly different' from the original

On a live stream this evening, The Behemoth announced Game 5, and I'm pleasantly surprised. The team behind Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater is going all the way back to its roots.

The studio has been working on Alien Hominid Invasion over the "past 15 months or so." It's not a "remaster" or a "remake," and it has solo and co-op support, but that's all w??e learned from the stream.

Rest assured, the YouTube trailer summary calls Invasion an "arcade shooter," so it won't be unrecognizable. The Behemoth also added a little more about the project on Twitter, writing, "This reinvention of Alien Hominid HD will fea??ture new gameplay, progression, mechanics, and more."

Players will get the??ir first hands-on o??pportunity in a matter of weeks at PAX East 2020 in Boston.

People are going to be upset that The Behemoth went with Alien Hominid Invasion over Castle Crashers 2, but it's been 15 years. I can see why Dan Paladin and co. would want to go back. Alien Hominid rules.

The c??reators have famously shied away from sequels, so I'm sure they had a great ?reason for returning.

The post The Behemoth’s Game 5 is Alien Hominid Invasion appeared first on Destructoid.

I love all of their games for different reasons

[Update: Surprise, surprise. The Behemoth's Game 5 is Alien Hominid Invasion.]

The Behemoth, the beloved studio behind Castle Crashers, is gearing up to publicly reveal its next game. The team plans to announce "Game 5" on a live stream at 5:00pm Pacific on January 30, 2020.

New game announcement Thursday, January 30th at 5:00 PM PT
Watch the reveal live on //t.co/h7sPxsJSmF#Game5 pic.twitter.com/b1N0TuS1uH

— The Behemoth (@thebehemoth) January 29, 2020

As much as everyone would cherish a sequel to their personal favorite Behemoth game – take your pick between Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers, BattleBlock Theater, and Pit People – I'd keep dreaming.

Given the developer's history of genre-jumping, it's tough to predict what's n?ext, and that's what makes this mystery project so enticing. The Behemoth is always trying to branch out with games that feel fresh, and a little bit out-there, yet true to its core. We'll soon see if Game 5 continues the trend.

(For what it's worth, I would be ecstatic abou?t another co-op platformer.)

The post The Behemoth is announcing Game 5 soon and I’m stoked appeared first on Destructoid.

Confirmed by Behemoth

So Castle Crashers Remastered hit the Switch yesterday, and almost immediately there was a ton of confusion as to whether or not multiple profiles could keep their progress on the Switch. As you might recall some games don't allow for multiple profiles to be signed in, and the same case was assumed for Castle Crashers.

There's an entire Reddit thread about it, and thankfully user thejslewis go to the bottom of it and found out that yes, the game does support multiple profiles. Behemoth Community Manager Roxanne cleared up the issue directly on Twitter, noting that progress won't be saved for guest profiles (by default), but? if you use the "Y" button to select a profile, you can save individual character progress.

This is pretty important! If you're starting a new cam??paign run this weekend with some friends I wanted to make sure you were taken care of.

Roxanne [Twitter via Reddit]

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Remember that old XP exploit? Good times!

The Behemoth putting a game out on a Nintendo platform? It's happened before, and soon, it'll happen again. Castle Crashers Remastered i??s Switch-bound on September 17, with a PS4 release also incoming.

It's wild to think that the beloved indie beat-'em-up originally released over a decade ago – so let's not!

With this remastered form, we're getting everything you'd expect: 60 frames per second, higher-res textures, and all of the bonus characters, orbs, and weapons (which are simply unlockable in-game as opposed to DLC). On Switch, you can bust out four different Joy-Con and your group is good to go.

The allure of portability is too dang enticing. And for many of you, it's probably been a while since you've last played. Castle Crashers Remastered costs $15 – a price I think plenty will be willing to pay.

I wouldn't have expected it, but just in case ?anyone is holding out hope for a nice surprise, there won't be cross-platform multiplayer. "It's not something we have in our plans," according to The Behemoth.

The post It’s nearly double-dip time: Castle Crashers Remastered hits Switch on September 17 appeared first on Destructoid.

(And everything else The Behemoth has done)

[Update: In addition to the Switch tease, there's also a nod to Castle Crashers on PS4.]

The thought hadn't crossed my mind lately, but yeah, Castle Crashers would rule pretty hard on Nintendo Switch. In a tweet today, The Behemoth seemed to tease an incoming port.? The studio dropped some artwork featuring Joy-Con controllers styled after the game's four original knights.

Seems straightforward, right? The team even followed up with a pink and purple Joy-Con.

pic.twitter.com/b85s4rvaxM

— The Behemoth (@thebehemoth) March 14, 2019

With PAX East k??icking off exactly two weeks from now, we'll find ou?t soon.

For as much amusement as I've gotten out of The Behemoth's wacky beat-'em-up game over the years, I feel like this one's mostly going to come down to pricing and timing. After Castle Crashers Remastered, I can't picture? myself rushing to revis??it the game again on day one unless it's priced generously.

That said, if BattleBlock Theater were to come to Switch, I'd be there in an instant. The Behemoth's library would suit the system well across the board, but BattleBlock scratches a specific co-op itch.

The post Sign me up for Castle Crashers on Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

A strategy RPG shakeup

I really admire The Behemoth. The studio has found success time and time again without resorting to sequels, charting a varied course from Alien Hominid to Castle Crashers to BattleBlock Theater. The team's latest, Pit People, l??ives in yet another genre: it's a tu??rn-based strategy adventure.

We've seen the developer hone its style, humor, and craft over the years, gaining the confidence to take on bigger and more ambitious projects. Pit People is certainly those things. It's also The ?Behemoth's strangest game to date, with life-giving cupcakes standing in for more traditional healer units and characters like ??the troll mom out there barfing up little gremlin children to clog the battlefield.

It's a supremely weird game in a (mostly)?? good way. The hot st??reak continues.

Pit People (PC [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: The Behemoth
Publisher: The Behemoth
Released: March 2, 2018
MSRP: $14.99

Early on, I found Pit People's eclectic nature almost off-putting -- like I wasn't privy to a beloved friend's inside joke. The game follows Horatio, a blueberry farmer on a journey to rescue his son from a giant mischievous space bear (voiced by BattleBlock Theater narrator Stamper). It's an out-there premise that goes even further out ther?e as you pick up companions and ??face new complications.

One moment, you might be fighting a sea monster's gun-toting uvula; the next, you're scouring the world map to capture an explosive-horn-firing "rainbow horse" because it'd help round out your party roster. My first impression of Pit People was that th??e story, setting, and chara?cters were verging on too random for their own good, but those feelings started to pass an hour or so after being thrown into the deep end. I warmed up to the game's grab-bag of kooky ideas and embraced it.

Whether you've played many SRPGs before or not, there's a bit of a learning curve. Turn-based battles play out on a hex grid, but you don't have control over who your units attack -- not exactly. You'll put them into position and lock in your turn, then they'll do what they feel is best. It's tough to give up precision control, but there are some ways around it. Ranged units, in particular, can often be placed in such a way that they'll only have the one target you want to hit in their sights. That said, Pit People is clearly meant to be chaotic and s?urprising. This approach works for the most part.

In tactical games, I tend to hit a point where I settle into my team composition so well that mission designs begin to feel rote or I otherwise lose interest in the big picture. I never reached that point in Pit People, and there's a few reasons why. All of the main story quests (and even many of the side quests) have their own hook. It's?? rarely as straightforward as "Go kill all the things, then clean up the obligatory reinforcements." One mission, for example, is a miniature turn-based stealth diversion. The Behemoth does a great job of playing with expectations and shying away from genre conventions.

Another big factor? You can capture the last enemy standing, whether it's in a battle you initiated out on the world map or a tough mini-boss in a mainline quest. This dynamic can make even the most routine battles engaging as you try not to accidentally kill your next recruit (or die at its hands). There's also an incentive to keep on capturing: Pit People has a bunch of weapons and an absurd amount of cosmetic items, so two of the same units ca??n look and play very differently from one another.

The capturing element also feeds into team comps, which are a blast to put together -- especially if you're serious about PvP. The strengths, weaknesses, and synergies are a strategist's dream. You can, for instance, pair a mushroom with zombies and robots; they'd be resistant and immune to its poison, respectively. You could use a mascot to buff nearby teammates, then ferry it to safety on a Spidaur. Or you might choose to be a total pest with an army of hard-to-hit kobolds. You have six character slots all told, but some units -- like the aforementioned troll moms -- take up more room than others. 

It's also worth commending Pit People's co-op support. The game is playable with a friend online or offline; take your pick. Co-op wasn't a tacked-on afterthought, and neither were gamepad controls -- it's clear a lot of care went into nailing both. Unlike Castle Crashers and BattleBlock, which I thin??k shine brightest in a group se??tting, this holds up just as well as a solo adventure.

If there's any one particular aspect to highlight above?? all others, it's that they nailed the core loop. Questing, exploring, capturing, and returning home to cash in rewards and spruce up my party is still satisfying a dozen hours into my save file, and that loop shows no signs of sizzling out. I had to keep a constant eye on the time so I didn't stay up way too late. I did anyway. (But it was by choice!)

As far as I'm concerned, The Behemoth is now four for four. And while Pit People doesn't quite nab the crown as my new favorite game from the studio, I love the risks it takes to shake up strategy RPGs. It's a wild, creative, occasionally erratic game. Pit People is imperfect, but it's so worth your time.

_{[This review is ba??sed on a retail bu??ild of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Pit People appeared first on Destructoid.

March 2, just nine days from now

It feels like The Behemoth's Pit People (simply called Game 4 once upon a time) has been at the last 30 Penny Arcade Expos I've attended. This is probably an exaggeration, but the sentiment still stands -- this game has been floating around for a while n?ow. Finally, it's ready for a proper release.

After a year in Early Access on both PC and Xbox, The Behemoth has just announced that Pit People will launch on March 2. For a game that has been five years in the making, it's only nine days from release date reveal and actual release. Funny how that ?works sometimes.

However Pit People turns out, it's almost guaranteed to be a far cry from the likes of Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater that The Behemoth cut its teeth on. This is a turn??-based strategy game rather than an action platformer-type. Still, The Behemoth hasn't steered us wrong yet.

The post At long last, The Behemoth’s Pit People finally has a release date appeared first on Destructoid.

From the pinnacle to the pit

The Behemoth has announced that Pit People will be ready for early 2018. The next patch will be the full r?elease and will bring an additional map alongside a fully scripted and acted campaign mode. Since there are a bunch of different factors that need finalizing (such as music, individual voice recordings and level testing), the studio doesn't have a firm date in mind.

I've been looking forward to Pit People ever since I finally got the chance to play it at RTX this year. While I had doubts about the shift from arcade style games to a more methodical system, that typical Behemoth charm shines through. Thankfully, it looks like we won't have to wa??it much longer for the gam?e to leave Early Access.

The post Pit People’s next update will be the final version appeared first on Destructoid.

His name is Scrumptious

I’ve been a big fan of The Behemoth ever since I first played Castle Crashers. I was familiar with their Newgrounds content, but never really took the plunge until the genre defining beat-'em-up landed? on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008. It was almost revelatory in how good that game was, along with having a plain colorful and hilarious art style. I immediately became a fan and eagerly waited for their next r??elease.

BattleBlock Theater took quite awhile to hit the 360, but I eventually ended up grabbing it and loving that game, as well. The Behemoth has such wild creativity and reckless disregard for established conventions that it seems like everything they craft is gold. Pit People looked to b?e more of the same, at least from an aesthetic standpoint.

When I gave the game a shot at RTX this weekend (somehow miss??ing it at PAX this past March), I can’t say I walked away from the single-player portion all too excited. The multipla?yer, though, is a totally different beast and definitely has the hallmarks of another instant classic.

While previous Behemoth games have dealt with action-oriented games, Pit People shifts genres entirely to become an SRPG. This is a game very much in the vein of Fire Emblem or Advance Wars, just without the severe punishments of permadeath or the overwhelming tactical depth of commander powers. Pit People is sort of a more complicated game of ??rock-paper-scissors that features a heale??r who is a cupcake.

The wonderful lunacy of the artists at The Behemoth shines through with these character designs, even if some are repeated from past efforts. Their specific brand of simplified facial design and potty humor is all present and accounted for, as well as the vocal styling of Will Stamper (voice of Hatty Hattington in BattleBlock Theater) ??making a return as a??n overly pissed off announcer.

There is also some incredible music to keep you occupied as you deliberate your movements. Seeing as how the game is an SRPG, you’ll plan out your characters' movements to then be enacted upon hitting go. You move pieces around a grid like a tabletop RPG and the game does behind-the-scenes calculations to determine who is attacking what, on what grid, and for how?? much.

I suppose it isn’t the most in-depth system around, or even the most logical, but it helps to balance out the various types of units you’ll take control of. I didn’t get an exac?t understanding of the different strengths and weaknesses, bu things like helmet-clad characters will have higher defense against blunt weapons and ranged fighters will be exceptionally weak to up-close confrontation.

The battlefields, themselves, can also feature obstacles that can hinder or help you, based on the positioning of your characte??rs. You might need to flee from an opponent's oncoming juggernaut, for instance, but the shortest path is through a spike trap. Do you risk the small bit of damage to escape, or shift around to try and get ??behind your enemy or even run to the aid of your healer? It can become very complex against a human opponent, which is where I feel the game truly shines.

The campaign is fun, don’t get me wrong, but it mostly works for its? sense of humor. Like I mentioned earlier, your healer is a cupcake and one of the side-quests I encountered had me saving his cupcake friend. The enemy leader was the birthday boy and he had stolen my cupcake’s friend as a gift to himself. I had to advance onto him through his army to prevent him from eating the other cupcake. What the hell did I just write?

Still, from the short demo I played, the computer AI doesn’t seem all too bright. I’m also not sure, exactly, how the overworld map works. You can freely move around and even avoid battles, but since the game features traditional RPG leveling, you’d want to engage in those skirmishes. The pacing, through, can slow to a crawl as you meticulously try and plot out where you’re mov?ing, what quests you’re trying to complete, and how you can get around foes on the overworld screen.

In multiplayer, though, you just get straight into the battle and need to put on your thinking cap against a person just as intelligent as you. Even though I had only put in roughly 30 minutes of game time, I had a??n epicly close battle with someone due to our basic understanding of the rock-paper-scissors?? style combat.

It was a wild time trying to chase down his heavy, grunt-spewing unit while I was avoiding spike traps and moving my archer out of harm's way. The turn-based nature of the game never even becam?e a factor because I got to engage with the player either via smack talk or even suggestions on moves. It was great to have?? that element of discussion going while waiting for my turn to commence.

You just don’t get that from the single-player, though I’m guessing that may be due to me starting in a tutorial. Even so, I’m perfectly fine with Pit People being yet another Behemoth game that excels at its multiplayer element, because even Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater were much more enjoyable with buddies.

So while the fact that Pit People isn’t an action-based game might scare you, don’t be worried. The Behemoth’s peculiar style of game making still shines through in every facet of this?? n??ew title. In a lot of ways, this is the best multiplayer experience they’ve crafted thus far. I’m eager to see if the rest of the game can hold up.

The post Pit People has some exceptional multiplayer a??nd a talking cup?cake appeared first on Destructoid.

Long time comin'

Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater creator The Behemoth has been testing its upcoming weird-as-heck turn-based strategy game, Pit People, with a closed beta. Try it yet?

If not, the floodgates will open soon eno?ugh. There's a Steam Early A?ccess and Xbox One Game Preview launch planned for January 13, 2017. Here's a bit about the current state of development:

"The Pit People Early Access experience will include a sizeable chunk of the Story mission, plus access to several world maps (yes, there are more than one!), quests, Unfair Challenge ?against the AI, and Versus mode. The game can be experienced as a single player or two-player cooperative mode. Additionally, versus can b??e played with up to 4 people in 2v2. All multiplayer modes can be played locally or online!

We'll be continuing development?? throughout Early Access which means things like more quests, collectible items, story missions, world maps and other polish will be worked on."

I've played Pit People at a couple expos over the years (remember when it was just "Game 4"?), and it has proven itself delightfully mad thanks to its out-there character desig?ns and crazed narrator.

The full release will cost $20, but this work-in-progress build is set at $15. The Behemoth expects Pit People to stay in?? Early Access for "no longer than a year and no shorter than a couple months."

Pit People Steam Early Access in January 2017 [Steam]

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Toon Zerg are still horrifying

StarCraft II's third and final expansion, the Protoss-themed Legacy of the Void, came out a little less than a year ago. Since then, players looking to freshen up their game could play a Nova-centric side story, but that's about it. 

Since Legacy came out, Carbot Animations has been hard at work on a total conversion that cartoonifies all StarCraft II units and buildings, making them look like something you might see in a Behemoth game. It doesn't change th??e gameplay at all, just the visuals and audio. Called the Star Crafts Mod, it's harder to describe than you'd think, so have a look at the video.

The Star Crafts Mod is intended to inject a little humor into StarCraft II, including a dedicated button you can use to literally throw hunks of cheese at your opponent. The team got their start making animated videos set in the StarCraft universe. The videos' popularity led them to begin experimenting with converting the game's appearance, and they set up an Indiegogo page to fund work on the mod over a year ago.

This mod won't work in Ladder games, but you can play it by yourself or against friends. If you'd like to try it out before it officially releases, you can do so here. The mod will be freely available to all StarCraft II players starting tomorrow, and does not require the base game to play. If you'd prefer to wait, you'll be able to find it in StarCraft II's Arcade mode by typing "Star Crafts Mod??" int??o the search browser.

Th??is mod makes Starcraft 2 look ??like an awesome cartoon [DSOGaming]
The Star Crafts Mod [Indiegogo] 

(Thanks to Robert for the tip!)

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The beta started today

I wasn't all that interested in a strategy game from The Behemoth. They generally excel in more high-octane twitch genres, so when they decided to branch out with Pit People I was lukewarm ??to the idea. But after playing the beta that was unleashed last night, I'm not all that worried.

I dig the simplistic combat system that's mainly based on positioning. You have the Fire Emblem style counter mechanic, with characters that sport shields blocking arrows and maces countering helmets, to name a few. It's also wacky as hell, with one of the best soundtracks and presentations to date from Behemoth. At times it tops the Hatty Hattington madness from Battleblock Theater -- mainly because of the asshole narrator.

Watch the first 15 minutes for yours??elf below! It's slated for the PC and Xbox One platforms at some point?, but there's no release window in sight.

The post Pit People is probably the w?eirdest game yet f??rom The Behemoth appeared first on Destructoid.

Starts September 8

I don't really know what to make of Pit People. Like most Behemoth games it's kind of just on my radar, but once I'v??e actually gotten my hands on it I'll probably fall?? in love. A few of us will get that chance soon, as the developer has announced that the first beta period will run from September 8 to September 15.

It's a closed beta so only select people have access, but expect impressions and video to roll out shortly after it starts. Be sure to check your inbox i??f you registered, as you should be getting a notification today, and the actu?al code on September 8.

The post Pit People beta invites?? going out, check your inbox appeared first on Destructoid.

Pit People

The Behemoth is taking a crack at turn-based strategy with Pit People, a game that, like the studio's prior work (Castle Crashers, BattleBlock Theater), is silly and b??est played in co-op. One day you won't have to hear it from me -- you'll be able to try it for yourself! ??-- and that day will soon be here.

The game's closed beta is set for September 8 through September 15 on Xbox One, with sign-ups located right here. You?'ll just need to get your info sent in before Sept. 8 for a?? chance at access.

Bat??tles themselves are turn-based, but when you're out roaming the world, you get to explore the map in real time (as briefly shown at 0:34 in the trailer). I'm quite fond of that approach.

The post The Behemoth is ru??nning a beta for its weird s?trategy RPG soon appeared first on Destructoid.

Xbox One first, then Steam

Attending PAX East this month in Boston? Grand! Consider dropping by The Behemoth's booth (#4025) to get your name on the closed beta list for Pit People?. The rest of us will be able to sign up later, at home, but we won't have a chance to possibly win stuff in a raffle like you will??.

What is Pit People, exactly? It's a wacky but mechanically solid turn-based strategy game with co-op from the entertaining minds behind Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater.

I've played it a couple times now, and I like it a?? lot, but t??here's so much going on that short preview sessions at events don't do it much justice. This upcoming beta build should be great in that respect.

Above all, it's ??nice to?? hear this is inching closer to release. I'm getting antsy.

Pit People Closed Beta &?ndash; Sign ups at PAX East [The Behemoth]

The post The Behemoth is gearing up for a Pit People beta appeared first on Destructoid.

That just leaves PlayStation

Castle Crashers Remastered was a nice upgrade for?? Xbox One players, and now The Behemoth is bringing some of those improvements to the Steam version of ?the game in a free update.

• New mini-game: Back Off Barbarian
• Uncapped frame rate (FPS)
• Ultra mode: high-quality textures
• Updates to UI flow
• Russian language support added
• General bug fixes and improvements

A couple of things to note. One, you'll need to toggle Ultra mode in the settings menu -- it won't be on by default after Castle Crashers updates. Two, Back Off Barbarian is a replacement for All You Can Quaff. Studio co-founder Dan Paladin says the old mini-game "haunted" him.

Castle Cras??hers Steam - Barbarian ?Makeover Out Now! [Steam]

The post Castle Crashers upgraded on Steam, too appeared first on Destructoid.

Bring friends (or lots of potions)

In 2008, Castle Crashers rekindled my dormant ??love of beat-'em-ups. It had imaginative characters, strange and varied locales, and the four-player co-op was great at encouraging friendly competition. ??There wasn't much else like it back then. All of these years later, there still isn't.

Playing through the remastered release for Xbox One, I was surprised to learn just how little of the adventure I could actually recall. The opening few levels, sure -- barbarians steal pri??ncesses, then you follow them into the woods and flee from a goopy-eyed monster while riding on a deer (who may or may not have bowel issues). Those sequences are burned into my brain.

But after that point? It was a blur. Each new boss surprised me all over again: a dragon with a sock puppet, monstrous corn, medusa -- I'd forgotten how utterly weird Castle Crashers gets once it deviates from the standard knight's tale. While that variety kept me engaged and coming back for more when Castle Crashers was new, with Remastered, one playthrough was plenty.

Castle Crashers Remastered (PC, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: The Behemoth
Publisher: The Behemoth
Released: September 9, 2015 (Xbox One)
MSRP: $14.99

It didn't help that I was alone for most of the journey. Not only does the pacing plod as you methodically take out enemies by yourself, but certain fights aren't balanced well for solo play. When everyone's out to get you -- just you -- and they can collectively launch a volley of projectiles that stun, over and over again, it's hard to retaliate. My way ar??ound this was and still is to juggle ?foes in the air, but it's not fun feeling like you have to resort to such tactics.

Of course, Castle Crashers is best played with companions -- even if it's just one other player. But I have a lone Xbox One gamepad and despite The Behemoth's promised matchmaking and network improvements for Remastered, my attempts at online co-op were sluggish. Even when slowdown wasn't an issue, it was hard to find other players around my characte??r's level.

While I opted to start fresh, you don't have to. If you played Castle Crashers on Xbox 360 and upload that save data via Xbox Live Gold, you can bring over your progress to?? Xbox One including weapons, animal orbs, and characters (but not including things like gold and consumables).

That's terrific. So is the initial pricing for Castle Crashers Remastered. It's free if you're a Gold subscriber who owned the original game on Xbox 360. You have through September 20, 2015 t????o claim your copy, after which point the game will cost $5 with the loyalty discount.

To be clear, Remastered is not a remake. It's more of a touch-up than anything -- a way to keep Castle Crashers easily accessible and relevant as the industry moves away from last-generation consoles. It's smoother (with a frame rate doubled to 60FPS) and better-looking (with five times larger textures). But this is a game?? from 2008 at its core. While the chara?cter designs remain charming as ever, certain backgrounds and other elements don't hold up as consistently.

Bonus characters and animal orbs that were previously obtainable as DLC are now integrated, and? the shallow, button-mashing mini-game All You Can Quaff is gone. In its place is a far superior time-waster called Back Off Barbarian. I didn't get it at first, but now I really dig it.

You hop around a tile-based world and try not to get squished by other characters. The twist is that movement isn't as s?traightfoward as pressing up to move up. Instead, adjacent tiles are color-coded to match the Xbox controller's A/B/X/Y buttons. So depending on where you are at on the board, you may have to hit Y to move up. Or maybe X! You have to think fast to survive for as long as possible. Once Back Off Barbarian gets going, it's nerve-wracking in all the right ways.

As much as I enjoyed the new mini-game, it's hardly enough of an incentive to justify paying full price for Remastered. It's a similar situation with the visual upgrades and behind-the-scenes tweaks. If you can snag the loyalty discount, by all means, go for it. An eventual Steam version is also planned, but release date and pricing details haven't ?been announced yet.

I maintain that Castle Crashers is a good game. Great, even, if you're playing cooperatively. But seven years later, I'm? not nearly as smitten. I just can't e??ndlessly grind battles like I used to.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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'Free until September 20'

As a reminder, Castle Crashers Remastered is out today on Xbox One. You can snag the game for free until September 20 if you own the original on the 360, at which point it w??ill revert to $5 for previous owners. For eve?ryone else, it's $14.99.

According to developer Behemoth, the discount is not live yet, and th??ey are "still waiting" for it to work. A PC version is?? in development, though a discount program or separate release have not been detailed.

As soo??n as the free upgrade goes live I'm going to beat it all over again.

Castle Crashers Remastered [Xbox.com]

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Releasing September 9, 2015

I like Castle Crashers a lot, but I wasn't planning on nabbing the remaster for Xbox One. Now I am.

Castle Crashers Remastered releases on September 9, 2015. If you own the original game for Xbox 360 and have an active Xbox Live Gold account, you can download it for free through Septe??mber 20 (and for $5 from that point on). The price without a loyalty discount is $14.99.

What's new? A strange mini-game called Back Off Barb?arian (shown above) that thoroughly confused Steven and me at PAX; larger textures; 60 frames per second; performance updates and gameplay tweaks; and smoother online multiplayer with faster matchmaking.

Also, Castle Crashers will eventually be backward compatible on Xbox One. Though if you go that rout??e, you won't get any of the aforementioned upgrades. Those are only in the remaster.

Castle Crashers Remastered Release Date MEGA POST [The Behemoth]

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Turn-based strategy with co-op

Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater developer The Behemoth is making a cooperative turn-based strategy game for Steam and Xbox One. For a long time there, it was tentatively called Game 4, but it finally became Pit People this year. It's fun, funny, and a lot to take?? in.

Th??ere's a free-roaming world map, which I dig, and a capture mechanic, which I dig even more. So many weird critters to recruit. This trailer ahead of PAX Prime is a peek at the madness.

For a more informative look at Pit People, you can watch the first 20 minutes.

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Could they be right around the corner?

According to some images floating around on the internet this morning, Castle Crashers and Borderlands m?ight be some of the next games coming to Xbox One via backward compa??tibility.

The source of the leak, who apparently also leaked that Mirror's Edge and Shadow Complex would be coming to the service in advance, claims that as a beta tester they hav??e now popped up on his system.

So, do you care abo??ut either of these games showing up on your Xbox One?

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Strange name for a strange game

The upcoming strategy game from Castle Crashers maker The Behemoth is memorable. Its old temporary name, "Game 4," was not. It's now called Pit People, which is weird but fitting.

"Pit People was the name written on the original concept sketch that started it all," said the studio. "Every interaction took place in an arena. Over tim??e, adventuring became a big part of the gam?e. However, a key moment in the story now occurs in the Pit, and so the name remained!"

I like it. Short and memorable.

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Summer release

Not even Castle Crashers is safe from the remaster treatment!

The Behemoth is upgrading its fun-as-hell beat-'em-up for Xbox One this summer an?d, sure, I'll play that. Besides gameplay and multiplayer improvements, there's an exclusive new mini-game, Back Off Barbarian, about dodging swarms of enemies. Take a peek at that in the trailer.

Otherwise, expect larger textures an??d 60 frames per second. You in?

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The Behemoth's 'Game 4'

Because apparently it's 2008 again, I actually played some Castle Crashers this year, which then got me hankering for some BattleBlock, which I prefer. And I'm thinki??ng the tentatively titled "Game 4," with its strategy leanings, might make for my favorite Behemoth game yet.

The 20 minutes above is an updated version of what Jordan played and previewed last year, if you prefer words.

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Now I feel old

These days, Tom Fulp is probably best known for his work with The Behemoth, behind games like Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. Way back in the day, I knew him as the guy in charge of Newgrounds. I spent a ton of time (probably too much) in high school playing free Flash games on the site. I still remember playing through Pico's School, a po?int-and-click adventure about a school shooting. It hasn't exactly aged well (unless you count the more recent remakes), but it still r??eminds me of being a kid, playing morbid videogames when I should have been doing homework.

Newgrounds has grown a lot since the early days, becoming a place for a huge number of creators to put up content of varying quality. It even became the birthplace of some big names in games today like The Binding of Isaac.

Newgrounds turns 20 years old today, and to celebrate, Fulp and company are streaming a bevy of the site's hosted games on Twitch.

[Thanks, Dieter!]
[Image]

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The Behemoth knows what's up

I'm a jerk who totally forgot about The Behemoth's Game 4 despite?? playing a fun chunk of the tactical role-playing title alongside its narrator, Will Stamper, and loving every minute of it.

So to selfishly put it back on my mind -- and to gi?ve you a swift reminder as well, if you're in the market -- let's look at some cupcakes. They're a healing unit type, and you can deck them out with accessories l??ike lemon meringue or a piece of waffle cone. What a swell game.

At PAX East, The Behemoth plans to show off the recruiting mechanic, which lets you capture the last enemy standing in a battle. It's the thing that pushed Game 4 onto my most-wanted list.

Cupcake Couture in Game 4 [The Behemoth]

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Tactical battles with that familiar Behemoth charm

No, the next game from The Behemoth isn't a sequel to Castle Crashers. I mean, yeah, that'd be nice to have one day, but I'm loving how the studio is continuing to try new things. And its next project, the to-be-properly-named "Game 4," is most certainly a New Thing for the team.

It's a turn-based strategy role-playing game with the style and humor we've come to expect from The Behemoth. So, pretty freaking great. Will Stamper even returns from BattleBlock Theater to narrate again. What begins as a typical fantasy adventure with swords and shields quickly morphs into a tale of robot?s, vampires, and anthropomorphic cupcakes. Knights getting extracted via space shuttle? Yeah, something'??s not quite right here.

As shown in the teaser trailer, a space bear has crash landed into a planet -- your planet -- and the universe hasn't been the same ever since. Just chaos, left and right. I was fortunate enough to spend well over an hour with Game 4 at PAX Prime and in that time, far more questions were raised than answered. I?? laughed more than a few times, though, and really dug the combat.

In Game 4, battles are turn-based and take place on a hex grid. You move your units around the map, one at a time, and end your turn when everyone is where you think they should be. That's when the attacking begins, automatically and throughout your whole team. You see, you aren't actually in control of who your characters target -- not directly like in, say, Fire Emblem. But you can often position them such that th?ere's onl??y one specific enemy within reach.

??Certain unit types counter others so, for example, you'd want to bait archers by putting a heavily-shielded soldier close enough to draw their fire away from others. Or you'd want to use a mallet, not a sword, against a helmeted foe. Mallets smash faces real good; swords, not so much. Axes, when thrown one space away from their target, can stun. Positioning i?s crucial.

In an early level, my half-cyclops Yosef was getting shot to hell by an enemy who happened to be dua??l-wielding Uzis like it was no big deal. This was a teachable moment meant to show that yeah, I should probably stun and kill that guy as soon as possible lest he wipe out my whole team. I almost lost a unit to him (death isn't permanent) but got real lucky with a mid-fight level-up, which completely restored its dwindling health to full capacity. That'll come in handy.

Although my demo only scratched the surface of Game 4, I got the sense that one of The Behemoth's main goals with its mission designs is to make them unexpected and far removed from the stuff SRPG players have seen countless times before. ?The fact that there are so many unusual characters to draw from given the story premise should help tremendously.

One quest I was shown involved bringing mail to a cupcake who wouldn't accept the delivery unless you gave him a bloody ??nose first. Units bleed visibly when they're hurt badly. To win, the sugary treat's forces needed to be ignored -- they were s??imply too powerful to defeat.

Outside of battles, you can run around in real time on a world map in search of new quests. Enemies are physically represented here -- no random encounters -- meaning you can attempt to bypass unwanted engagements. Yes! And should you want to lay down a "breadcrumb trail" on the map -- it's going to be huge, from what I'm told -- there's a button to do so. Except they aren't crumbs, they're poops. I mean, this is a Behemoth game after all. Gotta have poop.

When not exploring the world, you'll likely be back home at Game 4's central ci??ty, which is where you can swap in new party members and change their gear earned through battle. Underneath your house, there's this monstrous conveyer belt that will store all of the units you've captured on the field because, yes, ?this game has a capture mechanic. So long, free time.

Using the right equipment, the last enemy standing in a figh?t can be caught and brought over to your side, which means, in theory, you could build a team full of nothing but zombies, or have a bunch of archers on spider ladies so they can move and fire in a single turn instead of taking two.

You can have up to seven active characters in your group, and if yo??u're playing cooperatively with a second player, they can have their own full team as well. I didn't get to see this or the two-on-two versus mode in action, unfortunately, but I'll ??be curious to see how those are balanced.

Game 4 definitely won't be out this year, but beyond that, The Behemoth isn't committing to a time frame. It's coming to both Xbox One and Steam and shouldn't be quite as long of a wait as the studio's past games have been. Hope so. Strategy players and ??long-time Behemoth fans should expect to sink a silly amount of hours into this when it hits. I know I will.

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It's a strategy title

The Behemoth is great at teasing their games, and "Game 4" is no exception. All we had to go off of in the past was a creepy spider character, bu?t now thanks to PAX Prime in Seattle we're getting a clearer picture of what to expect.

Destructoid has confirmed that Game 4 (which is still not titled) will be a strategy game. It's coming to Xbox One and Steam at this time, and Will Stamper will return to narrate the adventure. It'll feature a single player campaign, as well as two player co?-op and four player matches in the form of 2v2 battles.

Stay tuned f??or more info in the near future on Game 4 as? well as a full preview.

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